they are still a false nature, and give a painfully stiff
and constrained air to society. The Swedes pride themselves on being the
politest people in Europe. Voltaire called them the "Frenchmen of the
North," and they are greatly flattered by the epithet. But how much
better, to call themselves _Swedes_?--to preserve the fine, manly
characteristics of their ancient stock, rather than imitate a people so
alien to them in blood, in character, and in antecedents. Those
meaningless social courtesies which sit well enough upon the gay,
volatile, mercurial Frenchman, seem absurd affectations when practiced
by the tall, grave, sedate Scandinavian. The intelligent Swedes feel
this, but they are powerless to make headway against the influence of a
court which was wholly French, even before Bernadotte's time. "We are a
race of apes," said one of them to me bitterly. Gustavus III. was
thoroughly French in his tastes, but the ruin of Swedish nationality in
Stockholm was already commenced when he ascended the throne.

Stockholm manners, at present, are a curious mixture of English and
French, the latter element, of course, being predominant. In costume,
the gentlemen are English, with exaggeration. Nowhere are to be seen
such enormously tall and stiff black chimney-pots (misnamed _hats_),
nowhere such straight-cut overcoats, descending to the very heels. You
might stick all the men you see into pasteboard cards, like a row of
pins, so precisely are they clothed upon the same model. But when you
meet one of these grim, funereal figures, he pulls off his hat with a
politeness which is more than French; he keeps it off, perhaps, while he
is speaking; you shake hands and accept his invitation to enter his
house. After you are within, he greets you a second time with the same
ceremonies, as if you had then first met; he says, "_Tak for sist!_"
(equivalent to; "thank you for the pleasure of your company the last
time we met!") and, after your visit is over, you part with equal
formality. At dinner the guests stand gravely around the table with
clasped hands, before sitting down. This is repeated on rising, after
which they bow to each other and shake hands with the host and hostess.
Formerly they used to say "I thank you for the meal," a custom still
retained in Denmark and Norway. Not long ago the guests were obliged to
make a subsequent visit of ceremony to thank the host for his
entertainment, and he was obliged to invite them all to a